


The Ventrum: A Jedi Comes on Board

by SandHand



Series: Star Wars: Adventures of the Ventrum [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Dysfunctional Family, Revenge, Road Trips, Team as Family, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22741402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandHand/pseuds/SandHand
Summary: The crew of the Ventrum meet a survivor of Order 66. Looking to hire them for a job, the jedi quickly reveals her identity while angering the local imperials at the same time beginning an adventure that will take them all across the galaxy. At the same time, a mysterious enemy form the jedi's past begins to pursue her, seeking revenge.
Series: Star Wars: Adventures of the Ventrum [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1635166
Comments: 7
Kudos: 8





	1. The One Who Hid

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to do something with Star Wars for a while. I'm a big fan of almost everything in the series (with the exception of some stuff like the old legends books). This is a story I wanted to do because I love the dynamic of the thrown together crew; there's always a droid and a jedi and some assorted humans and aliens with fun skills, like DnD gang. I'm going to try my best to keep to lore and identify things as they appear in shows and movies but I'm sorry for any mistakes that pop up. Having said that, I'll also be taking some liberties, like aiming up planets and changing the behavior of some races, little things that i hope wont become annoying. As always, I'm sorry for my terrible grammar mistakes and I hope you enjoy!

Tuntura was a mostly uninhabited planet, full of rolling plains and rocky terrain covered in greenery and large bodies of water. On a large plot of land there was a village built just below a jagged mountain. The people there were a mix of humanoids and aliens from across the galaxy that had come to live a simple life away from the conflict and worry elsewhere; so it was a great surprise when a Republic Star Destroyer appeared in the skies above.

Hours went by with no activity. Many of the villagers wondered why it was there, why it hadn’t sent down any soldiers; for the most part everyone went about their day, only pausing to stare up at the ship hanging there like a moon visible during midday. Without any communications they couldn’t contact the ship, so it sat there, the children seemed entertained by it and the others looked up occasionally out of curiosity. Near the end of the afternoon there was finally activity. A small escort shuttle flew down to the village, passing over a few times before landing outside the small settlement. A crowd grew quickly to see who had arrived. Many of the adults expected it to be people asking for supplies, many of the children hoped it would be clone troopers wearing their eye-catching white armor. Everyone was surprised to see two masked figures step down the ramp of the ship; dressed in all black with long flowing capes dragging behind them, they caused an uneasy feeling to spread throughout the group. They seemed almost identical, the only way to tell them an apart was a slight height difference. Both walked within a few inches of the crowd and stopped suddenly looking over the audience gathered to greet them. The taller of the two spoke first “We are envoys of the new galactic empire; we’ve come because we believe a criminal lives among you.”

“We do not have any criminals here” Everyone turned to one of the village elders, an old black man sporting salt and pepper hair, complete with a large beard “everyone who comes to this planet is seeking a new life, free of their old impulses, belongings, _and_ mistakes.”

“I’m afraid their crimes are too large to simply ignore.”

“We will not give up one of our own to masked strangers.”

The shorter figure began to step closer to the old man and the rest of the group; everyone became startled and backed up a few steps, except for the old man. The taller figure stopped their partner with an outstretched hand. There was a moment of tension as the man stared deep into the visor of the shorter figure who seemed to be fuming and struggling not to pounce at him. Eventually she relaxed and allowed her partner to continue “I can understand wanting to protect a member of your community, but trust me; this is not someone you want around you” she paused and looked at the crowd again “or the children.”

The man stood unphased by her words. With a sigh and a slight tilt of their head, the figure reached for their helmet and slowly lifted it off. The woman shook a few strands of long black hair from her face and returned her gaze to the crowd. She was a Mirialan; skin a healthy shade of light green with simple black tattoos running across her cheeks and nose, the only thing out of place were her eyes. They seemed mostly brown but from the elder’s point of view he could see hints of a yellow glow were speckled in with the brown “My name is Murinai, this is my apprentice Tariss” with that the shorter figure removed her helmet. She was also a Mirialan, with similar eyes and skin color. Her dark black hair was in a bob-cut that went down to her cheeks and her diamond shaped tattoos ran up and down her nose. Murinai offered the villagers a sincere smile “Again, I can understand wanting to defend your people, but this person is not one of you; if I had to guess she doesn’t even actually live _here_.”

Murmurs began to emerge from the crowd causing Murinai to smile “We just need to know where someone might be able to live outside of the village.”

The old man stood his ground “We _will not_ give anyone up to you.”

“There must be something I can do to convince you.”

“You’ve already lost my trust, when you lied about who you are.”

Tariss glared daggers at the man as Murinai pursed her lips “May I ask what lie I told you?”

“You told me you were an envoy, of the empire.”

“That is correct.”

“Why would an envoy carry a lightsaber?”

Murinai’s smile faltered a little and her eyes darted down to look at her belt, her saber was still concealed; then she turned to see Tariss turning a bit pale and finishing an adjustment to her cape. Murinai held back a grimace and looked back to the old man “Things have changed since the time of the Republic, not everyone in the galaxy is as peaceful and compliant anymore” with that Murinai grabbed her saber from her the back of her belt and ignited it, pointing the end of the blade at the man. The scarlet light surprised everyone, and the murmurs became screams. The old man began to falter and Murinai’s smile returned to her face “Where is the woman?”

“So, you know who you’re looking for?”

“Yes, and you know what she is; but now I’m beginning to wonder what _you_ are” Murinai began stepping closer to the man with her blade still outstretched. The man backed up, trying not to panic “So quick to question a newcomer to your little village, able to identity a lightsaber at the slightest glance” The old man’s steps stopped suddenly, and he struggled to move his arms. His view shot over the shoulder of the lightsaber wielder to the apprentice with her hand outstretched. “I’m starting to think we’ve stumbled across more than one jedi.”

“Let him go” a young dark-skinned woman broke through the crowd and ran over to the old man “He’s no jedi, he’s just trying to protect us!”

Barely able to move his head, the man turned to the woman “What are you doing?”

“The jedi is at the top of the mountain, in a small cave; we give her food and water every few weeks but that’s all.”

Murinai pauses for a second before giving the saber a dramatic flip and switching it off. She signaled for Tariss to let go of the man. She complied but also pulled him forward just enough for him to fall to his hands and knees in the soft soil. The woman rushed to help him as the two black figures moved past, the shorter stopping and kneeling down to address the two of them “You were smart to tell us what we wanted to know; it would have been smarter to let the old man die; before he puts your lives at risk again.” She spoke flatly, as if everything she said was unquestionable. The woman turned to snarl at her but Tariss had already left to join her master for the trek up the mountain.

The weather soured as Tariss and her master journeyed up the path. The storm clouds and thunder rolled in out of nowhere, but no matter how loud it got or how dark the view became not a single drop of rain fell. The trail was made of the same black rock as the mountain itself; there weren’t many signs of civilization as they went, Tariss looked out to the sea and over at the village, but she couldn’t stop her eyes from drifting back to the mountain where the jedi was “There’s no way she won’t be expecting us.”

“I’d assume so; other than us, I don’t sense anything else on this planet. No doubt she can feel the same”

“Then we should prepare to fight, or at least try and find a way to surprise them.”

“Patience apprentice; unlike our welcoming party the jedi may want to talk.”

“Why, so she can trick us or try and escape; we have her outnumbered _and_ overpowered.”

Murinai turned suddenly, startling her apprentice “I said _patience_ Tariss; if we treat every enemy with blind ferocity they will do the same to us” she searched the young girls eyes for any sign of understanding “The jedi are strong opponents, no matter how many of them there are or how much control they have in the galaxy. We are walking in at an advantage, but victory is not assured.”

Tariss swallowed and answered her master with a shaky nod. With her acknowledgement Murinai stepped back and returned to her casual attitude. Tariss tried to slow her heart rate as they continued to walk. They would soon arrive at the jedi’s lair and her master was right; she needed to calm down. If the jedi _did_ put up a fight, there was no way she’d be able to face them with so much anxiety and adrenaline. Tariss decided to put her helmet back on, to try and block out some of the outside noise; at least inside she could focus better, and her master couldn’t see the panic in her eyes.

At the end of the trail there was a clear opening in the mountain. Resembling a triangle, two large slabs came together to form the ceiling. The cave seemed highly decorated; candles lit the area best they could, there was a bed made of what seemed to be dried grass and a stone table covered in cloth and trinkets. Finally, in the very center of the cave on a rug was a woman, maybe the same age as Tariss, meditating. Both women paused at the sight of her; Murinai gave a smirk and stepped forward, Tariss simply watched from the entrance but took her saber from her belt and began fiddling with it.

Murinai stepped slowly towards the jedi, making no effort to be quiet; whether it was an act or not, the jedi was already aware of them “Are we bothering you” she finally said.

“No” the jedi spoke softly and outstretched her hand to the space in front of her “please, join me.”

Murinai took the spot on the rug in front of her but didn’t move to fold her legs. Now even closer to jedi she was fully struck at how young she appeared to be “I must admit; I didn’t expect you to look like this, you must have been a youngling when it all happened; you honestly still look it.”

“You’ve come to kill me.”

“Is that a question?”

“Did it sound like one?”

Murinai laughed at this “How long have you been here?”

“Since the temple fell, like you said” the woman finally opened her eyes to look at her guests. She was surprised by the sly smile on Murinai’s face but tried to appear emotionless. Her gaze drifted to the other woman; mask on, blade in hand; if anyone would initiate confrontation it would be her. Her eyes drifted back to the older woman “If you haven’t just come to kill me, what else could you want?”

“Well for you to join us.”

The jedi cocked an eyebrow at this but didn’t offer a response. Murinai’s smile widened “I’m not sure what you may have heard isolated all the way out here, but the jedi are all but extinct. That doesn’t make them useless however.”

“So, I would what exactly; come with you, dress like you, bow to your master?”

“Well with your prior experience I’m sure you could be your own master; go where you want, do what you want” Murinai began searching the girl’s eyes for anything; a sign of weakness, any reaction to her words “I’m sure the jedi would have never given you such freedoms.”

“You’re right; but then again the jedi aren’t around to tell me what to do anymore” the jedi’s rich blue eyes narrowed in on Murinai “You’ve made sure of that.”

“So, you’d rather be here for the rest of your days, until you drift away and become one with the force?”

“What’s so wrong with that?”

“Well it’s selfish for one; look how easily we were able to find you” Murinai got up slowly and began to loom over the jedi “Do you think we’ll be the last people to come here; more sith will come, bounty hunters even.”

“Then I will protect myself, and the people that live here; with my life if I have to.”

“How noble” the jedi’s eyes stared deep into the woman’s eyes, shooting over to her apprentice every once in a while, but never losing focus “You obviously would have been a great jedi, and you could be an even greater sith.”

The jedi sighed and slowly rose to her feet; Murinai noticed that she didn’t have the height of a youngling. Tariss took note of her attire; she was dressed in what others had described as the traditional cloths of a knight, the only thing missing from her appearance was a lightsaber “She is unarmed” she muttered, eyes beginning to dart around the cave for any sign of a silver cylindrical handle. Murinai smiled and began stepping away from the jedi and taking her cape off “Go on girl; grab your blade, it’s only fair that you be prepared to die.”

“I thought you were going to offer for me to join you?”

“You’ve made it very clear that you’re not interested.”

While they spoke back and forth Tariss watched the jedi for any sudden movements, anything that would give away her next move. For a second she noticed her hand twitch as if reaching out for something. Tariss traced from the hand to the small table of trinkets and instinctively jutted her hand out blowing the stone display to pieces and sending everything flying. Murinai’s focus was broken for a second before she realized it was not the jedi who had caused the explosion. Her opponent took advantage of the moment and summoned a small box hidden in the side of the wall to her side. Murinai ignited her lightsaber and immediately took two swings at the jedi. She dodged the first one just barely by stepping backwards, dodging the second by rolling to the side. By then her own blade had reached her hand, breaking free of the small box, she ignited the blue blade and flipped it in her hand looking directly at Murinai. She offered the jedi a smile and pointed with her own saber. Before she could take a step or say anything there was a bloodcurdling scream from the other side of the cave. Tariss was midair when the jedi turned to see her. She managed to raise her blade and catch the overhead attack. Tariss’ allowed her feet to hit the ground and immediately pulled away from the clash and took another swing at her neck. The jedi blocked it almost effortlessly and pushed into the clash, knocking Tariss off her footing. She moved to advance on the retreating sith but was surprised when she was pushed into the wall of the cave by Murinai. She struggled to free herself but Murinai had flat to the cave wall, saber still in her hand. The master began to step forward menacingly, her own blade skirting against the ground making a sinister hiss. Refocusing her attention on the roof above them, the jedi willed some of the stones to fall towards her opponent. Murinai slashed at the rocks; unable to block the smaller ones but succeeding in cutting the larger pieces.

Now distracted the jedi was able to break free of Murinai and continued to pull rocks down from the ceiling with increasing speed and size. Eventually Murinai jumped away from the falling rocks only for the jedi to take a running leap at her. An onslaught of blows went between the two; each swing changed from offensive to defensive in a pattern, neither moved their feet. Tariss watched her master closely for any sign of weakness or fatigue but the two warriors continued to clash like automatons in a display. There was a repetition of moves with every fourth of fifth strike until the jedi changed suddenly. As Murinai went for her offensive strike the jedi did the same putting one of her feet back and thrusting her saber forward with both hands, stabbing into her chest slightly. Murinai, unable to follow through on her swing, went tumbling backwards in pain. Tariss immediately ran in as the jedi moved away from a growling Murinai. The apprentices first swipe was wild and quick, she tried to cut the jedi straight down the middle; she moved to Tariss’ left and watched as she swung at her again, another easily blocked attack. The jedi watched calmly as Tariss lashed out with strike after strike. She continued to back up as the sith advanced until she was stepping over the remnants of the ceiling she had pulled down. The jedi reached out and willed a few of the stones up at Tariss who covered her face with her free hand and lashed out. She took three blind swings at the jedi. She dodged the first, deflected the second and moved closer to try and disarm the sith; the jedi caught the end of the blade in shoulder, grazing her but not stopping her. She then used her entire body to knock Tariss into the closest wall and turned her attention to Murinai who was mid strike. She blocked it immediately and in response Murinai kicked the jedi in the stomach, she stumbled past Tariss. Murinai stepped forward confidently and slashed at the jedi with a glancing blow. She blocked it but Murinai quickly recovered and slashed at the jedi’s blade arm, grazing it as if she were teasing. The jedi hissed and grabbed at the arm trying to keep focus through the pain. Murinai took one more swipe as if not trying and the jedi blocked again, not thinking about what her next move might be. Murinai once again recovered quickly and cut the top of the jedi’s blade off causing the beam to fizzle before turning off completely. Now the smile returned to the sith’s face as she looked at the jedi observing the broken blade in her hand; she gave a playful pout “It’s almost sad; watching your potential being squandered.”

The jedi returned her attention to Murinai, rage in her eyes. The sith went for one last blow, slashing downward at the young girl with both hands wrapped around her blade. The girl immediately raised her hands and willed the force to catch the attack mid-air. Murinai was surprised at her speed but quickly found herself breaking free of the girl’s will by reeling away from her attack. Then, just as before, Tariss screamed loudly before rushing in and trying to swipe at the jedi. She dropped her hands and made large full body movement to dodge and roll out of the way. Tariss pursued closely and Murinai ran to catch up with the two of them. Trying to make sure she wouldn’t jump away again Tariss edged closer to the jedi until there was barely room for her to take a full swing at her. The next attack she threw out was met with a hand firmly placed on her arm. Tariss struggled to pull free and the jedi delivered a few precise punches and kicks to the body of the sith apprentice. One last open palmed smack to the head made Tariss reel back, dazed but still being held by the jedi. She felt the resistance stop and began to move her opponent’s arm more easily. She watched as Murinai approached from behind, ready to strike, and turned with Tariss’ blade hand to thrust the blade directly into her master’s gut, and outside the storm clouds finally broke.

Murinai’s expression fell flat and her eyes locked with Tariss. She watched as her master’s eyes filled with tears and her eyesight began to droop. The jedi finally released the apprentice’s hand and Tariss immediately switched off her lightsaber and went to grab her master as she crumpled to the ground. Arm around her waist, Tariss took her free hand and tore her helmet from her head to look at her master face to face. She ran her hand down the side of her face and eventually went to grab her hand. She began to blubber as her master’s breathing grew more and more raspy.

Just out of view, the jedi managed to grab Murinai’s lightsaber and retreat from the cave. She ran down the path as fast as she could, trying to ignore the screaming pain in her arm and the overall ache of her body. At the base of the path she cut a quick right and headed for what would be the bottom of the mountain. Tucked away under tarps and bundles of loose brush she slowly uncovered a jedi starfighter. Climbing inside the cockpit she quickly powered on the ship and felt it rumble and rise into the air. It didn’t take long for the people of the village to notice it fly off into space and then jump into hyperspace with a twinkle.

Tariss still held onto her master. She didn’t notice the jedi take off, she just cried and hugged her master; she blamed herself for losing control, then she blamed her master for her lax attitude. Finally, her feelings landed on the jedi; the jedi who had taken Tariss by the hand and _made_ her kill her master. She was at fault, only her. Tariss felt the pain and anger build up, she felt a searing heat in the back of her head and finally let out a wail so loud it traveled down the mountain. The cave floor cracked, the ceiling crumbled; down in the village houses shook and the ground began to split as the girl cried for her master and her murderer.


	2. A Box Full of Crystals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a trade planet the crew of the Ventrum are doing a simple delivery, then things go wrong.

On the planet of Simino ships came and went regularly. The planet was one large pit stop full of people buying and selling in everything someone could want. Drake frequented it for this exact reason; he could pretty much pick up anything out and around the galaxy and get ­ _something_ for it, and there was always someone looking for something specific. The only hitch in his little operation were the Stormtroopers; their patrols had only gotten worse with each month and every visit to his favorite spot meant a search of his ship and his crew. This time he was dropping off a couple crates of crystal he and his small crew had mined for a local collector. The job was simple, and the buyer promised a good payday so there were no questions asked, “We ready to go yet.”

Drake turned to his left to see his co-pilot looking at him. He would have tried to read the droids expression if he had any. He pulled himself from the pilot’s chair and grunted “Yep, you wanna come with this time?”

‘’Not really, I’m feeling a bit tired actually.”

“Sure, you are” he slapped the droid’s large shoulder with his own metal arm “lazy ass.”

Drake moved past the chairs and stretched a bit, as the automatic doors slid open and led into the living quarters. He walked by without a word but noticed there was no sign of Bale or Kara, which meant they were most likely in the loading bay. At the end of the hall Drake took the ladder down to the bay where he spotted Bale working on one of his tablets “Hey, where’s our mechanic?”

“She said she had to go see someone about a part” the kid seemed to be no older than twenty. His blonde hair was messy, like he hadn’t paid it any attention when he woke up, but his clothing seemed normal. It was a simple pair of dark blue pants and a very light blue shirt. Once he was down the ladder Drake noticed a few crumples in the shirt and some crates that had been moved around for someone to lay down on “I’m guessing you had some work you needed to do last night?”

“Just the usual, but I wanted to be thorough, you know?”

“Nope” Drake gave his tech expert the same pat on the shoulder that he gave Zed “but keep up the good work.”

“You going to drop off the stuff now?”

“Looks like it, don’t suppose you’d like to join me?”

“No; I wanna finish this up then run a few errands.”

Drake gave a smiling sigh and nodded. He grabbed a hover cart and carefully placed the marked boxes onto it. With a grunt he put the final box on and looked back at Bale, still deep in whatever he was doing “Could you grab the door for me?”

Without looking up Bale typed something into his tablet and Drake watched the ramp open for him. He rolled his eyes a bit and pushed the cart down the ramp “See you in a bit boss” Bale called out behind him. The hanger was a bit busier than usual, but Drake saw all the similar sights. There were ships of every shape and size, aliens and stormtroopers walking every which way and conversing, and vendors trying to peddle their wears of varying quality. Drake tried to keep his head low and just move towards the end of the hanger. Just steps from the door he heard a low voice “Stop right their citizen.”

Drake turned to see two troopers walking towards him. He put on his best smile and greeted them “What can I do for you gentlemen?”

“What are you carrying in the boxes?”

“Just some crystals for a buyer, I think he’s gonna use them for some sort of statue; you know how those rich people are” Drake made a nudging motion towards one of the troopers. He stared back at him, Drake dropped his arm and gave up on the niceties. They immediately fell into the motions; Drake produced all the identification, pointed out his ship and allowed the troops to check every box. He figured if he complied things would go faster; he didn’t even try to stop the stormtroopers as they fished out some of the larger crystals as keepsakes. After a few minutes he could move along, as they walked away Drake gave a big wave “You two have a wonderful day!”

Once out of the hanger Drake fished a small device from the pocket of his red leather jacket. He held it to his prosthetic arm and waited for the magnet to clink it into place. He pressed a button on the device and waited for a response, there was some static and eventually a grumble came through “Who is this?”

“Tartn it’s Drake, I’ve got your crystals; where are we meeting?”

“Oh Drake my boy, glad to hear from you” Drake began to rest on his cart as he prepared for Tartn to go on and on “I’m running a bit behind in my plans for the day but I will meet you in the private delivery area.”

“That’s fine Tartn; just tell me which one.”

“You choose my boy; I’ll contact you when I’m nearby.” Before Drake could respond his communicator made a small beep signaling the end of the call. He grumbled a bit but continued down the hall towards the nearest private delivery area. As he walked, he allowed his mind to wonder a little. After this little job he would love to take a break; the team had more than earned it and they’d probably love it more then he would. Assuming Tartn came through they could probably afford to take a week off, if they could decide on _one_ planet to relax on. For sure Bale would just stay on the ship so his vote wouldn’t matter much; the hardest part would be getting Zed and Kara to agree to something. As he daydreamed Drake was startled by something hitting his cart. He looked up to see a woman in a long dark brown cloak wincing in pain “Oh, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

The woman threw up a hand quickly to stop him “No it’s okay, I’m okay.”

She quickly moved past the cart and Drake could only call after her “Are you sure you’re alright?!”

“I’m sure, don’t worry about it” and with that she was off down the hall. Drake had the immediate urge to run after her, but she seemed like she was in a rush. Anything he did could hold her up or piss her off. He shrugged his shoulders slightly and continued back down the hall until he reached a door. Pressing a few buttons on a nearby panel he confirmed that it was not being used and continued inside. The interior was a dimly lit room that was mostly empty. There were a few metal boxes against the walls but other than that it seemed like an unused storage room. Drake pushed the cart to the middle of the room, right under one of the ceiling lights, and rested his arms across the handle of the cart. There was no telling how long Tartn would be but if the guy came through Drake was prepared to get cozy, he laughed to himself “Should have brought a pillow and blanket.”

Behind him there was the sound of an automatic door opening. He turned expecting to see Tartn and some of his hired help but instead there was nothing. The sliding door was open, and Drake could look out and see the activity of the hallway he’d been walking through moments ago but there was no sign of anyone who could have activated it. Drake gave a full shrug this time and assumed someone had walked a little too close to the door setting off the sensor. He returned to his relaxed position and played with the communicator on his arm wondering if he should give Tartn a call, just to let him know where he’d be waiting. Before he could decide, the door opened again and this time Drake was met with five Stormtroopers marching in formation towards him, weapons raised. He immediately threw his hands up and tried to shake off the initial panic “Hey I’m sorry, I’m just waiting for a buyer, I didn’t know this was imperial property.”

One of the soldiers approached him, weapon still trained at Drake’s chest “Did you come in here alone?”

“Yes sir, just me and my crates” he gave a nervous laugh as the trooper loomed over him. Drake could practically see himself in the deep black reflection of the helmet’s eyes. Seemingly satisfied with his answer the trooper moved away from Drake and turned to his others. He made a swift motion with his hand and they began to search the room. Drake watched them for a bit, waiting for some sort of order or acknowledgment but after a few moment he reached for his cart “Well I can see you guys are busy, so I’ll just find another place to wait for my buyer.”

“Hold it” the trooper placed his hand firmly on Drake’s shoulder and gripped at the red leather “We’re going to need you to stay here till we complete our search.”

“Oh, come on I just got here, if you find something, you’re just gonna think I had a hand in it anyway.”

“Then pray we don’t find something” the trooper growled.

Drake rolled his eyes and caught sight of movement in a dark corner near the room’s entrance. He took a second and then slowly pulled his eyes away from the spot, back to the trooper still holding him. He cleared his throat a little and shuffled his arm to get the soldiers attention. He let go slowly and smoothed out the crumpling material. With a sigh Drake spoke “Listen, if I can’t leave can I at least let my buyer know I’m…going to be late?”

He offered a smile to the trooper who finally relaxed his blaster arm and took a few steps away from Drake only to point at him “Make it quick” with that he turned to join the search of the room. Drake went for the communicator but never hit the button. Instead he looked back to where he had noticed the movement before and narrowed his focus and for a split second he saw something, or he thought he did, there was no denying that something, or someone, was in that corner. Drake raised his communicator close to his face and began to mime making a call before blurting out “Hey, Tartn; yeah I’m already here man but there’s been some kind of mix up with the location” the troopers didn’t seem to care as he continued to put on a show “No don’t you worry Tartn, you’ll get your stuff or my name isn’t” suddenly there was the beep of an incoming call.

“Drake, I’m almost there; tell me you’ve found a place for us to meet.”

Drake looked up nervously to see every stormtrooper looking back at him frozen in place. He did his best to give a genuine laugh and shrugged in confusion at the men before answering the communicator “Uh like I said ­ _earlier_ Tartn, there’s been a snag in the original meet point.”

Two of the stormtroopers stepped back over to Drake as he nervously talked back and forth with Tartn. He watched as the troops stepped closer, their footsteps echoing through the room with extra intensity. For half a second Drake felt the weight of the blaster on his side increase and thought about reaching for it. Killing even one trooper would mean he and the crew could probably never come back to Simino but being taken by them would most likely mean death. Once more, as if by cruel fate, the sliding doors to the room opened and Drake turned to see a slightly annoyed Tartn, with his men “Drake my boy, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t upset with you” he seemed to ignore the troopers as he moved into the room with his men. He was a short plump man with red skin and no hair on his head or face, not even above his green eyes where eyebrows would be “Do you have any idea how valuable my time is; I cannot waste it wandering around this disgusting space port!”

Drake nodded in response as the troopers approached Tartn “Sir we’re conducting a search of the area, you’re going to have to leave.”

“Not without my crystals!”

As the argument continued Drake noticed more motion near the now closing door. One of the troopers took notice as well and immediately fired at the shape. It made a sharp yelp as the blast grazed it. The room fell quiet for a split second before every other trooper fired their blaster at the figure rushing for the door. As it left Drake could make out the fabric of a dark brown cloak. The revelation hit Drake like a speeder bike. He quickly grabbed his blaster from his side and stepped up to the two troopers nearest him. He whacked one in the back of the head as hard as he could with the butt of the gun and as the other soldier turned to face him Drake punched into his chest with his prosthetic arm sending the soldier flying. Tartn stared in shock as Drake ran for the door dodging a spray of blaster fire. As the troopers followed him, he took one look over at the cart Drake had left behind and chuckled “That doesn’t concern us boys, let’s take my crystal and go.”

Back in the well-lit hall Drake immediately turned and ran for the hanger where his ship would be waiting. Once he was sure there were no more blaster bolts being fired at him he slowed up enough to stow his weapon and use his communicator “Zed, get the ship started up and make sure everyone is on board and ready to go!”

He ended the call before his co-pilot could respond and picked up speed. He seemed to arrive at the hanger in no time at all, the lack of a cart might have helped. However, once Drake stepped through the doors into the hanger, he was met by a small army of stormtroopers all firing at his ship. The blasts weren’t leaving anything but blaster marks but before long they’d start to seriously harm the ship. To his left a blaster bolt struck the door frame missing Drake by a hair and sending up sparks and smoke. He made a mad dash for cover behind a stack of metal boxes and pulled out his blaster again. Without peeking he lifted himself up over the barricade and took a shot at two troopers. The first fell dead instantly, the second was lucky enough to survive a shot to his shoulder. Drake ducked back down as more troopers took notice of him and fired in his direction. On his arm the communicator began to beep, he slapped the device and screamed “What?!”

“Nice of you to join us boss, what’s going on?”

Drake gave a tired but relived laugh at the sound of Zed’s voice “I may have agitated some of these guys.”

“By agitated do you mean killed?”

“No, those guys were actually the first I’ve shot” another heavy barrage of blaster fired caused Drake to flinch “they seem mad about it though.”

“Ship’s hull is holding, we’re almost ready to take off; do you want me to come down there and help you out?”

“No; finish preparing for takeoff then activate the auto-cannon, I can hold here” as Drake relayed orders he heard the sound of the ship’s ramp slowly lowering “Zed I said don’t come down here, don’t send anyone out!”

“It’s not me, someone in the loading area must have done it.”

Drake tried to peek over his barrier to see who was coming down the ramp, but a fresh wave a of blaster fire sent him back down behind the boxes. He took three deep breaths and prepared to run for the ramp. If he didn’t move now the troopers would surely head into the ship and kill everyone inside. Drake hopped the barrier and began taking carefully timed shots at Stormtroopers. He hit two before fully sprinting for the Ventrum’s ramp. Blaster fire whizzed by him and struck at his feet as he went. He fired three more shots into one trooper in his path who flew backwards, bits of blackened armor flying off his chest. Drake turned his attention to the ramp with nobody else in his path and was stunned by the sight of a dark brown robe peeking out of the top of the sliding metal door. In his perplexed state Drake barely noticed the blaster bolt strike his prosthetic shoulder; the blast went right through and Drake’s arm went limp, weighing him down and causing him to fall to the cold floor in a heap. Now back in the moment, Drake tensed up and prepared for the feeling of hundreds of small suns piercing his body, but to his surprise the shooting had stopped. Shakily Drake opened his eyes and looked to see the remaining stormtroopers all looking past him, towards the now open ramp. Standing in the dead center was a girl in a long brown robe; the hood had been lowered to reveal long auburn hair and two bright blue eyes. The stormtroopers seemed shock by the sight of her; Drake slowly rose to his feet as they continued to look at one another only for one trooper to take notice and aim his blaster at Drake. Before he could fire the trooper was launched across the hanger by some invisible hand into a pile of metal boxes. Drake turned back to see the girl with her hand outstretched, and in the other hand there was a small black metal device, it almost looked like a baton. It wasn’t until the girl gave it a flip and switched it on that Drake understood why the troopers had been so stunned. The red glow of the lightsaber blade made his stomach turn and the way the light illuminated the woman’s face revealed a strange smile and some subtle scars. Drake rose to his feet and muttered to himself as she threw herself at the Stormtroopers “Holy shit.”


	3. New Job Offers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake attempts to make it onto the Ventrum and away from the Stormtroopers, but he can't seem to shake the jedi.

The jedi’s movements were swift and precise. She danced past every blaster bolt as if it were frozen in place. Occasionally, she’d reflect a shot back into one of the soldiers causing them to wail in pain and then fall lifelessly. In no time at all she had hacked through most of the soldiers and when Drake turned back to see what she was doing he caught sight of her ripping her blade up through a soldier’s body. He shuddered and quickly tried to turn away, but another wail of pain caused him to whip back over to see the girl drop to her knees. He noticed smoke rolling off her back and realized she’d been hit. Her lightsaber had rolled away and now the soldiers were repositioning around her. Drake watched one of them raise their blaster back up “Get ready to fire.”

Drake ran back down the ramp and scooped up the saber in his regular hand, blaster in the other. His robotic arm still not fully responding, he took a sloppy shot at the commanding trooper and then another. The first soldier fell dead with smoke rising from his helmet. The messier of the two shots struck the trooper closest to him. He keeled over and made a deep gargling groan before Drake ignited the saber and thrusted it through the soldier. The three remaining troops opened fire on Drake as he cowered behind the limp body of the stormtrooper. He felt the saber lurch free of his hand and go through the body of the trooper. The girl rose to grab her blade in her outstretched hand and immediately cut the blasters of all three troopers. In response they quickly moved in to try and tackle her. She dropped to half her height and spun on her knees cutting each man at the waist. They all fell dead, some sliding away from their lower halves. Drake pushed the body of the last trooper off him and panted. The girl passed him without a word “More will be on the way, we should go.”

Drake ran to stop the girl “Hold on, what do you think you’re doing?”

The woman had holstered her saber at her side and thrown her hood back up. Even under the subtle shade of the drawn robe her eyes stood out “We’re leaving on your ship before more soldiers come to kill us.”  
“What makes you think I’d let you back on my ship?”

“Because I want to hire you.” With that she gave a small smirk and continued up the ramp.

Drake ran up after her half expecting to see his crew holding her at gunpoint. As he made it up and hit the button to bring the ramp back up he noticed Bale half hidden behind some metal boxes while a tall muscular black woman with a sizable afro stood with a blaster drawn on the mystery girl “Well I’m glad someone stopped her” Drake joked.

“She ran up the ramp and surprised us, then she ran back down to help you”

“Would you rather I let your captain die?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Drake moved to the woman’s side and offering a raised eyebrow and holding his own blaster in the properly working hand.

“Zed can fly the ship.”

“Gee thanks Kara.”

The girl giggled a bit and raised her hands jokingly “It’s alright, you don’t have to point your blasters at me anymore.”

“And why’s that?” Kara took a few steps forwards.

“Like I told your captain, I want to hire you.”

Kara turned to Drake with a puzzled expression. He shrugged “I don’t know what she means either.”

“Maybe she’s being serious” Everyone turned to see Bale emerging from his waste high cover sheepishly “She’s a jedi, she just killed a bunch of Stormtroopers; she might be on the run.”

“Yeah, and now we are thanks to our captain here.”

“Oh, come on, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time; _we are not on the run_.”

“No the woman is right, as soon as the troopers see us fighting together they’ll group us together” the jedi stepped out of the way of Kara’s aim slowly, watching her eyes as she moved “Unfortunately, being grouped with a jedi isn’t the same as being caught with the Hutts or selling spice.”

“We know people who can help us disappear, shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Well I’m no expert but I think those services cost credits?”

“We can cover the costs.”

“No, we can’t” Bales whispered. Drake shot him a look then motioned for him to come over and see about his arm.

“Well, if you _do_ have that kind of money, we can use it to travel a little more comfortably; keep the Empire off our backs.”

“Hold on lady; there is no ‘we’ or ‘our’; there’s a me and my team and there’s you, a stowaway.”

“If you let me hire you, I won’t be a stowaway, so let me hire you.”

There was short moment of silence before Drake let out a deep laugh “Okay, okay if we were to hire you what would we be doing?”

“A small planet unknown to the Empire, where a group of rebels has been gathering.”

“Rebels?” Kara took a deep laugh and went to sit on one of her crates.  
“They are small in numbers, but they have ships and weapons, all they need now is a push.”

“No” Drake shook his finger and began to walk around the woman; Bale protested a bit, his work not finished “they need numbers, that’s what you just said, and jedi or not you’re just one person.”

“I can inspire others to join the cause.”

“Fine, we travel with you to an undisclosed location for an unknown amount of time, and you pay us how exactly?”

“The rebellion will compensate you for the job.”

“Of course, they will” Drake turned to Bale and Kara “the rebellion is going to compensate us.”

“They will.”

“You _just_ said they’re a small group, where are they gonna get the money.”

“Their numbers are few, but they have wealthy people in their ranks; people on the Senate, princesses.”

Before Drake could spit something back at the girl the room shook violently. Kara jumped off her box as it rocked beneath her, Bale rushed to try and help her. Drake began to fall only for the jedi to stretch out her hand and catch him; he found it weird being held by the force, there was a feeling like hundreds of hands on his back propping him up. She pulled him back up to his feet and gave a little smile. The next shake of the ship came shortly after and as soon as he could Drake flew towards the ladder leading to the bridge of the ship. Once inside he looked out the window and saw that they had left the hanger and were now flying over a stretch of orange canyons. The ship rocked again sending him headfirst towards the control panel. A large arm shot out to catch him and push him back up “Nice of you to join us captain.”

Drake laughed and gave Zed a pat on the head signaling him to move. The droid slid over to the opposite seat and Drake quickly hopped into his own, flicking a few switches before grabbing a headset and the controls in front of him “Everyone hang on!”

Drake leaned the controls to the right and held on as the Ventrum made a wide turn “What are we looking at buddy?”

“Three TIE fighters, decent pilots, less then decent shots.”

“Alright, start warming up the auto-cannon while I get us ready for light speed.”

Like a well-oiled machine both got to work. Zed moved each of his arms independently as he reached around his area of the cockpit to flip switches and press buttons. Drake couldn’t move as fast as the droid and his prosthetic arm continued to fight him, but he fought through it, the thought in his mind being that every button and switch he touched bought them one more second. Behind him the automatic doors opened, and he looked back for a second before groaning at the sight of the jedi “No, you don’t need to be here.”

“I’d like to know whether or not I’m going to die if it’s all the same to you.”

“Nobody is going to die, please head back to the cabin.”

“Technically there’s a small chance they hit something critical and we go screaming into rocks.”

“Zed!?”

“What, I said it was a _small_ chance!”

Another blast from the fighters rocked the Ventrum. The jedi fell forward slightly but was caught by Zeds arm. She looked up at the droid and smiled “Thank you.”

“Not a problem; you should probably listen to him; we don’t have any spare seats up here.”

“I’m fine, really.”  
The droid gave the best shrug he could and went back to work “Auto-cannon is charged.”

“Then let em have it.”

Zed nodded and hit a large red button causing a section of roof on the Ventrum to slide away and reveal a small twin barrel blaster. It swiveled slightly before opening fire on the fighters trailing behind. Instantly they dodged the barrage of red blaster bolts, but the turret quickly adjusted, focusing on one TIE. The large panel like wing was struck three times before tearing off completely and sending the rest of the ship barreling out of the sky. The other two opened fire on the little turret, striking the thick metal around and blackening it. The turret fired at another TIE fighter in a solid stream right into its cockpit. The glass melted at the touch of each bolt and the pilot inside raised his hands as bits shattered against his suit and sparks filled the interior. The fighter dropped very suddenly with nobody holding the stick. The last TIE fighter pressed its attack, letting loose a few shots at the turret then at one of the large cylindrical thrusters on either side of the Ventrum. Each hit rocked the ship’s interior a bit more and Drake began to grind his teeth as he tried to maneuver and finish his calculations “Drake, let me take over.”

“I got it.”

Zed looked over for a second at Drake sweating in his seat, his arm still shaking and struggling to keep up with his movements “No, let me take over; you can shake this guy, or you can get us ready to jump but you can’t do both.”

Drake paused for a minute, he knew he could probably finish the calculations before the fighter’s weapons did any serious damage, but Zed was right; he just wanted to be able to get it over with. Suddenly an arm wrapped in brown reached over and hit a button in front of him “Finish up” the girl said calmly, looking right at Zed.

Drake turned to shout at the woman, but she pointed past him out the window “Head in that direction then start to climb as soon as I tell you to.” 

“Why would I do that?”  
“Because I’m assuming you don’t want to die!”

Drake gave a quiet “yeah” and went back to controlling the ship. He made a few more sharp turns while trying to listen to the woman. Zed finished his calculations then went back to making sure the turret was firing; all the while the TIE fighter kept pace and took shots at the vital points on the Ventrum. Becoming increasingly annoyed with the fighter Zed hit a few buttons and grabbed the stick at his station “I guess one of them can fly.”

He rested backwards in his chair and pulled a cable from the wall, plugging it into the back of his head. His eyes began producing a bright red and his vision showed a similarly colored view of the TIE fighter behind them. Slowly Zed shot at the fighter, trying to coral him, until he was in the perfect spot to fire two bursts into the cockpit and blow the fighter to bits. He gave a large sigh and unhooked himself from the turret “We’re all clear.”

“Perfect timing” the jedi smiled patting Zed on the shoulder and then pointing out the window again “Start to climb.”

Drake acknowledged by tilting his controls back and letting the Ventrum slowly turn till it was facing straight up. He then hit a few more buttons and listened as the thrusters kicked in and sent them rocketing out of the atmosphere “Now all that’s left is the jump” the jedi said triumphantly. To her surprise Drake rose from his seat causing her to back up suddenly. Zed turned to his captain “Hey boss?”

“We’re ready to go, just give me a second okay?”

Zed nodded as Drake grabbed the woman by the arm and they both left the bridge. The door sealed behind them and Drake looked up and down the hall before letting out a sigh and wiping his face with his hand. The jedi studied him curiously, she couldn’t tell if he was going to give her good news or toss her in an escape pod “Everything alright captain?”

“Yeah don’t do that.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

“The only things you _will_ do are keep a low profile and listen when any of us tell you to do something.”

“Within reason I hope” the jedi tried to crack a friendly smile but was surprised to see Drake staring back at her very straight faced, the light of the hall almost made him look villainous “Listen to me very closely; this ship and everyone on it are my family, if you get them hurt in any way the deal is off and we dump you in the first place we can, inhabited or not.”

“I understand.”

Drake gave another sigh and tried to offer some sort of smirk “Now that that’s out of the way” he offered out his hand “We’ll have a more official _conversation_ later, but for now; my name’s Drake, it’s nice to meet you, kinda.”

The jedi returned the gesture and shook his hand “I’m Lorelei.”

As Lorelei shook the stranger’s hand, she could almost feel the emotion coming off him. Whether it was from everything that had just happened or a constant state he was in, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that he meant every word he had said to her, good and bad. Her position on the ship was sure to be a precarious one; but it didn’t matter, she didn’t care, she _needed_ to get to the rebels.


	4. A Cold Trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Simino the Empire arrives to investigate the aftermath of a jedi sighting. With them is a Sith clad in black.

Simino was a planet Tariss had never been to before, and while that list was long and extensive it was one planet, she had never even heard of in her time travelling the galaxy. It didn’t have any history of activity with the republic or separatists, it had no _major_ imperial presence or importance, and it was not home to any sites valued by the jedi or sith. When she arrived she was already sure everything that had been reported would be easily dismissed, there were no more jedi; and even if there were, the ones who were left couldn’t so stupid as to engage with Stormtroopers in a crowded spaceport. When she left her personal shuttle, she and the troops that came with her had to follow all the usual procedures; scans and weapon checks, stops and checkpoints, it all seemed so unnecessary, especially for her. If she wanted to Tariss could tear all the little garrisons and checkpoints apart, she could send the entire building into a massive crevice; there was nothing a metal scanner or blaster could do to stop her. She carried on like this, imagining ways to destroy the little spaceport, until they reached the hanger that had been shut down. That’s where she saw the bodies; each one was either marked with blaster marks or the familiar slashes and swipes of a lightsaber. The troops filed out immediately with one staying behind to accompany her search of the scene “I guess it really was a jedi; that or some fool with a laser sword.”

“It was a jedi.” She spoke flatly and robotically; it almost made the slight voice modulation her helmet gave off unnecessary. She quickly moved over to the bodies, her cape trailing behind her “These are not the swings of a fool with a blade, they show grace and care, nothing a person can simply perform given the right tool.”

“Should we alert the special units?”

“No, I’ll handle this.”

Another Stormtrooper stepped up “If it really is a jedi procedure says we contact” the soldier then suddenly began to cough and sputter before rising four feet into the air. Everyone in earshot looked over to see Tariss strangling their comrade with the force. After a few more seconds she released her grip and the man fell to the ground, cracking his visor against the floor and causing bits of his armor to chip and fly off. Tariss scanned over all the eyes watching her “I’ll report it personally, understood?”

No one dared give an audible answer but at once everyone went back to work. Even the soldier who had served as an example slowly got back up and limped away to help clear the scene. Now that she knew for sure it was a jedi it raised her anger and her excitement; it was possible, it was plausible, it could be _the_ jedi.

Tariss’ next stop was the control center; from there she could view the footage from the hanger security cameras. When she arrived, there were already a few Stormtroopers standing guard at the door, she glanced at them, wondering why they had already secured the area. As the automatic door to the center opened her eyes shot to an older man in the gray clothing of an imperial officer. Not turning to look at Tariss he lifted his head and spoke “It would appear we’re dealing with a jedi.”

Tariss clenched her fists under the cover of her cape “Admiral Ketch, I wasn’t aware you were going to be here.”

“Well between your mad dash to get here with _my_ soldiers and the remote nature of the system, I assumed something interesting must be going on.”

Finally, Ketch turned to address her. He was a pale skinned man, deep sunken brown eyes and prominent smile lines. His dark brown hair was well kept and short with the sides sporting an impressive gray color. He motioned towards the monitor he had been obscuring. Tariss stepped forward slowly, not breaking eye contact with the man until she was directly in front of the small display. It showed a low-quality video of Stormtroopers engaging with a man in a red jacket. It was impossible to see his face and Tariss watched in annoyance waiting for a sign of the jedi. When she finally saw her step off the ramp of a slightly obscured ship her eyes widened; while the video quality didn’t allow for absolute confirmation she could feel it deep in her stomach, this was the jedi from Tuntura and the red lightsaber only furthered her belief “Tell your men to make a copy of this footage for me; do your best to improve it and begin sending it out to every star destroyer and imperial occupied planet you can” before she could give any more suggestions Ketch chucked and cut her off. Tariss turned slowly to look at the pompous man.

He gave a shrug and closed his eyes “I’m afraid I can’t do any of that; you realize that is a jedi yes?”

“I know what it _is_.”

“Then you know what our first course of action should be” he spat back. Ketch and Tariss had gone back and forth like this for months. Her position on his ship was temporary and random, just a computer trying to fill the roster of a ship. While Ketch had tried to be respectful towards the woman at first, she quickly showed a lack of respect for him and for the empire. She often ordered troops around without his knowledge or approval and would throw tantrums resulting in the destruction of his equipment and soldiers. He had settled on being an annoyance to the woman, it was clear she would not be controlled but she still followed orders she was given, and there was still at least one person that she knelt to.

Tariss clenched her fists even harder, the leather beginning to audibly crumple, Ketch allowed his eyes to drift back behind the sith at another display “I do hope you plan on listening, I don’t think your intimidation tactics will have the same effect on me.”

Tariss followed his line of sight to the display, paused on her lifting a Stormtrooper into the air. She relaxed her fists and took a few deep breaths before starting out of the room “I will go receive approval for the operation, stay here and interview every civilian you can.”

“Consider it done” he hollered as she turned the corner. Tariss marched back to the platform containing her shuttle. Without a word she went up the ramp, followed closely by the troopers who had been standing guard. Once on board she looked to the pilot “Back to the ship ma’am?”

“No” Tariss took her seat and removed her helmet. She turned her glowing yellow eyes towards the pilot “Set course for Mustafar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of my pilot/prologue type thingy. I want to structure this story as if it's a show; so the plan is to do short stories that are a couple chapters that continue the story. That way I feel like I can give each adventure enough time and it feels more satisfying to me personally than a hundred chapter story. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed the start of this, you wont have to wait long for the next part, and if you have any questions or suggestions or just random things to say I would love to hear them.


End file.
